Courting terns and vanishing wildflowers
June 2nd, 2016
On the 15th of May I went back to South March Conservation Forest with Michael. I remembered vividly where that sunny slope was that I found the Dutchman's Breeches.
(Why? Well, because it was just past a long, very narrow bridge across a wet area--the kind of bridges South March is full of, and I always look at them and wonder how the mountain bikers manage it--and as I was photographing the flowers a guy came riding down that bridge and went off it and crashed. He afterwards admitted that he had gone off it because he was watching me take photos instead of watching where he was going! He was thankfully unhurt, but the whole thing certainly impressed upon me a vivid memory of that spot.)
Anyway, I refound the slope, and was stunned to see the Dutchman's Breeches entirely gone, with scads of White Trillium in their place. They had been in full bloom nine days ago. I was able to find the plants thanks to their distinctive leaves, but all of the blossoms were replaced by pale green seed pods, with nary even a wilted petal in sight. I've never seen flowers disappear so fast!
Water bodies come and go at South March according to the whims of beavers. In roughly the middle of the conservation area is a huge beaver pond called Heron Pond. A few years ago, it dried up to a meadow, after the family of beavers apparently moved away. Now it's full and beautiful again, and West Pond is the one that's drying up.
At one outlook on Heron Pond, Michael and I stood for quite some time to enjoy the antics of three Common Terns. A female (presumably) rested on a log in the water, while a male diligently fished and brought her catch after catch. This is a courtship ritual for terns and often immediately followed by mating. A third male (again, presumably) came by and the two males got into spectacular aerial fights.
I'm curious to find out if Common Terns actually nest in the conservation area (or if they're just warming up for their arrival somewhere else.) I have so far informally tallied 54 breeding residents of South March, but I'm sure the list isn't complete yet.
June 2nd, 2016
On the 15th of May I went back to South March Conservation Forest with Michael. I remembered vividly where that sunny slope was that I found the Dutchman's Breeches.
(Why? Well, because it was just past a long, very narrow bridge across a wet area--the kind of bridges South March is full of, and I always look at them and wonder how the mountain bikers manage it--and as I was photographing the flowers a guy came riding down that bridge and went off it and crashed. He afterwards admitted that he had gone off it because he was watching me take photos instead of watching where he was going! He was thankfully unhurt, but the whole thing certainly impressed upon me a vivid memory of that spot.)
Anyway, I refound the slope, and was stunned to see the Dutchman's Breeches entirely gone, with scads of White Trillium in their place. They had been in full bloom nine days ago. I was able to find the plants thanks to their distinctive leaves, but all of the blossoms were replaced by pale green seed pods, with nary even a wilted petal in sight. I've never seen flowers disappear so fast!
Water bodies come and go at South March according to the whims of beavers. In roughly the middle of the conservation area is a huge beaver pond called Heron Pond. A few years ago, it dried up to a meadow, after the family of beavers apparently moved away. Now it's full and beautiful again, and West Pond is the one that's drying up.
At one outlook on Heron Pond, Michael and I stood for quite some time to enjoy the antics of three Common Terns. A female (presumably) rested on a log in the water, while a male diligently fished and brought her catch after catch. This is a courtship ritual for terns and often immediately followed by mating. A third male (again, presumably) came by and the two males got into spectacular aerial fights.
I'm curious to find out if Common Terns actually nest in the conservation area (or if they're just warming up for their arrival somewhere else.) I have so far informally tallied 54 breeding residents of South March, but I'm sure the list isn't complete yet.
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mustangsallie
June 2nd, 2016 at 10:00 pm
Love your pictures AND your stories.
con_girl
June 3rd, 2016 at 11:19 am
A great many of our spring natives are that fast. They have a small window of full sun.
Suzanne
June 3rd, 2016 at 1:29 pm
I initially read, "they have a small window of fun in the sun" :-)
It is interesting to get to study something whose life cycle progresses so fast. I found this plant again in Frontenac Park eight days later; this time even the leaves were gone and the seed pods were readily falling off as I handled the stem.